The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of transfer or outfeed device for continuously cast strands, especially billets or blooms of a multistrand continuous casting installation for metals, particularly steel, with associated cutting stations, devices for removing the dummy bars out of the outfeed or transfer lines as well as for the storage thereof and a transverse transport device for the cut lengths of hot strands, and additionally, the invention pertains to a method of operating such transfer device.
With multistrand continuous casting installations where the strand is guided horizontally or along paths inclined slightly upwardly with regard to the horizontal, there can be employed articulated dummy bars.
There are known to the art continuous casting installations wherein each dummy bar is separated from the hot cast strand at the cutting station. The dummy bars are thereafter brought out of the transfer or outfeed lines for the cut lengths of the hot strand, and such removed dummy bars then must be stored, following the cutting paths, above or adjacent or below the outfeed line, to enable transport of such hot strand. This storage of the dummy bars after the cutting paths or stations is, however, associated with the drawback that there is required an increased length of the transfer or outfeed device and thus an enlarged size of the casting hall.
In order to be able to shorten such increased length of the transfer device it is known to arrange a transverse transport device for a four strand-continuous casting installation or machine at the height of the transfer lines. This transverse transport device is arranged after the cutting paths. The dummy bars are mounted at inclined paths located above such transverse transport device. The existence of coordination problems for the outfeed of the cut-to-length hot strands requires that there be provided a buffer path between the cutting stations and the transverse transport device and equally subdivision thereof to both sides of the transfer or outfeed lines. This increases the equipment costs of the continuous casting installation and its operating costs.